The invention relates generally to interactive games and, more particularly, to an interactive game book in which an electronic circuit device is used to provide random instructions for directing an educational or amusement game provided on the pages of the book.
Games and learning devices are more fun and more effective when they are both easy to use and have features that engage the attention of the user. Simple electronic devices have been used with games and learning devices in the past. Such games have taken a variety of forms. For example, PCT Publication No. WO 91/06090 (Billings et al.), discloses an audio-visual game with both an electronic portion and a graphic portion. A series of buttons are provided, each of which selectively generates one of a plurality of sounds. If desired, the operator may press one of several buttons while reading the graphic portion, thereby generating a sound that corresponds to the picture on or next to the button.
Other games and amusement devices have used electronic devices in a variety of different forms. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,557 (Clossey), U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,376 (Arash), U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,053 (Hyman), U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,043 (Billings et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,374 (Simone).
None of these known devices provide an interactive electronic game book whose pages form one or more game boards that use an electronic device having a random selection capability for providing instructions to guide or direct the playing of the game.